Orchestrating the Change: Insights from the CSO Leadership Forum

Absolutely energized to have attended the #CSOLeadershipForum last week for the first time!

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The futur/io Institute hosted this incredible event at the breathtaking Vitra firestation by Zaha Hadid Architects near Basel. It was encouraging to see top Chief Sustainability Officers from different industries come together to discuss our crucial role in organizations and how we can better equip ourselves to take immediate action. ?

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The Forum featured an impressive lineup of speakers and workshops. Following are some standout highlights:

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Nora Fehlbaum, CEO of Vitra delivered a powerful keynote. She shared how she pivoted her family business a few decades ago into a cultural, commercial and environmental company.

Their ambitious strategy is open-sourced and aims to:

• be a net positive company on all ecological indictors by 2030
• implement a circular economy by tracking every product throughout its lifespan by 2030
• ensure transparency to customers by providing detailed information as to where and how a product was manufactured and with which partners by 2030.

Vitra already has Environmental Product Passport to support transparency goal at the product-level.

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Laila Jessica Braga Martins from UN Climate Change talked about the Inner Development Goals Framework.

These goals are essential for accelerating the achievement of the SDGs since we need to change mindsets and paradigms to deal with the #systemchange needed.

The inner development goals focus on these 5 pillars:

1. Being – relationship to self
2. Thinking – cognitive skills
3. Relating – caring for others and the world
4. Collaborating – social skills
5. Acting – enabling change

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Livio Scalvini from Imperial College Business School shared key insights from his CSO survey:

• Only 50% of CSOs have been in their position for a year or less
• Only 50% report directly to the CEO or Board
• Only 30% of CSOs have a formal sustainability education

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Petra Wicklandt, PhD CSO of Merck Group discussed how quality and sustainability have shared commonalities with both having:

• Long-term thinking
• Investment rational versus being considered as costs
• Compliance being the lowest level
• Culture being not a project but a continuous journey

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Merck’s vision of creating shared value focuses on being a sustainable, responsible business that is profitable, resilient, and competitive and has a scalable positive impact.

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Petra also outlined the diverse roles of a CSO as a:

• Strategist and driver
• Mediator
• Culture change agent
• Communicator
• Alliance manager

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Finally, loved the redefined CSO role abbreviation as a "Chief Sustainable Orchestrator."

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Lastly, saving the best for last was from visionary Marc Buckley ??'s talk, where he posted a profound question to the audience: "What does a world that works for everyone look like for you?"

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He defined the answers as: “A world that works for everyone – reimaging and restructuring our economic, social, political systems to prioritize the well-being of all people and the planet.”

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My concluding remark and question: as CSO and leaders, we must reimagine these different systems to prioritize the well-being of all people and the planet.

How do you intend to make your mark and help orchestrate this transformation? ??? ??

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A huge thank you to all the amazing speakers and attendees for the lively exchanges and discussions. ?

Harald Neidhardt, Inês Oom de Sousa , Dr. Mina Aryobsei-Bergmann , Carrie Scott, Melissa Davis , Elizabeth Corse , Andreas Wade , Melanie Kubin-Hardewig , Nick Heine, Prof. Dr. Cordula Meckenstock, Rainer Karcher, Bernd Ebersberger, Prof. Dr. phil. Gerhard Blechinger, Marie Ammann , Aurora Chiste , Christina Lee , Amelie Sperber, Cristina Maria Castiglioni, Hender Gercio (Hendi) , Erik G. Turner

Check out the video recap by Cristian Ioan

#CSOLeadershipForum #Sustainability #SustainabilityLeadership